A little bit funny (Kieron)

[Deleted]

Five years had been spent away from Hammel and while this time period was filled with happiness, Maebelle did end up fleeing back as if the school were a safe haven. Or perhaps her main reason to return was Vermont in general and the need for a job led her to apply as a gardener to maintain the school grounds. Or, which might sound even more logical, she simply went back for the flowers and plants that had always been there during the multiple years spent there as a student. Either way, the fact remained that Mae had been accepted for said job and that she was not thoroughly enjoying it. Having an income, however, was necessary and she probably would have settled for anything.

What the young woman found ironic, despite it being her own idea, was her decision to tag along during Hammel’s camping trip. It simply had felt like the most normal offer to make. With her ability being plant empathy and manipulation god knows how handy it might come in. It would not surprise her if multiple students ended up in poison ivy. Perhaps her superiors had agreed on this in the hopes that Maebelle would enlighten the students about her knowledge about plants, but that was not what she planned on doing. Help if needed, yes. Communicate with others while it held no real purpose, no.

Unsurprisingly enough, a couple students had decided to make a mess during the first day of camp. After having eaten and therefore refueled their energy, it had clearly seemed like a good idea to them to go and tear a small bush out of the ground. ‘Table decoration for tomorrow’, they had called it jokingly. Mae, however, was not amused. She had really hoped that possible incidents would be limited, but given this took place only hours after arrival, all hope faded. Anyhow, after having put on her oh so sexy (except not really) dungaree, not wanting to ruin her good clothes, the brunette made it a matter of life and death to get those roots into solid ground again. Which, in the end, was a success (if you did not count in the mud stains on the knees of the outfit). With some luck, Maebelle would be able to brush them off when dry – and when hands were clean again.

It was why she made her way into the cafeteria, highly relieved that dinner time was over already, hence the reason no attention was being paid to a person sitting at one of the tables. Instead Mae was staring down at the darker spots on the pants with each step taken, grumbling to herself for she did not wish to walk around like this from the beginning of the week. She reached the cart in which all the cutlery, trays and napkins could be found, plucking out about three of the white items, immediately starting to try to clean her hands.

Only when blue optics drifted up for the briefest of seconds did they land on Kieron. All actions came to a stop. She blinked, wondering why the heck sunglasses would be worn inside and if he might be secretly gazing at her through them. Creepy guy. Like seriously. Clearly no longer at ease (even though a normal person might have caused the same feeling), Mae awkwardly rubbed the napkins over the knees, while every once in a while looking over through eyelashes, given she was slightly bending down at that point.

When finished, the gardener straightened her back while squeezing the napkins together with both hands. Eyes landed on Kieron again. Perhaps the man was blind? That was an option, right? She looked down at the white ball in her hands, looked up again… and then stupidly enough aimed it at him. It better not land on his food tray… and he better be blind for Mae would not know how to talk herself out of this. It seemed like the easiest way (for her) to find out.

[Kieron Sharpe]

Kieron would be lying if he said that he wasn't enjoying his new job at least a little bit. Sure it was hardly his dream job (he'd never actually wanted to study medicine in the first place), but it certainly beat working in a grocery store or flipping burgers at McDonald's like several people had told him he'd end up. K wasn't stupid, not by a long shot, but he was well aware that he was hardly the brightest button in the box and there was a part of him that was still a little baffled that he'd managed to get this far. He had a real job as a real qualified nurse in a real specialist school. The school that he had attended no less... It all still seemed a touch surreal. Like any moment now he would wake up in front of a computer with a headset on and the little terminal in front of him saying 'call waiting on line two'.

The camping trip was something K had been very much looking forward to since he had been told about it, and he had enthusiastically volunteered to tag along as soon as the chance had presented itself. It would be great to get out into the woodland after so long in the town, and even though the camp site was in New Hampshire and therefore put him closer to his parents than he would like, the benefits far outweighed the risks.

K was lucky that his next door neighbour had some sort of clue how to look after fish and he'd given them some money and a spare key so they could feed and keep an eye on his aquatics collection while he was away for a few days. Most of the fish were fairly easy and good feeders. The only one that was likely to provide some trouble was Wee Mad Arthur, one of the batfish. But even he would survive if he went off his food for a few days so Kieron was not overly worried about them.

So far his time at the camp-site had been thankfully quiet. The wide open spaces and open-minded camp runners had allowed him to spend more time in flight than he had done for quite some time, and he was very much feeling the high of the woodland air and the wind against his wings. It had, of course, been cut short when he'd been waved down just before lunch to take care of a student who had thought it would be funny to torment an ant mound, not realising they were allergic to the bites of said ants.

Kieron had managed to patch up the child without difficulty and sent them on his way again, and it had meant the cafeteria was quiet when he'd finally got chance to grab his own lunch. Baked potato with cheese and coleslaw was rounded with a side of chicken strips, and to help bulk up the protein he needed Kieron fished a snack-size package of chapulines from the small bag around his waist. He ate alone in silence for a while until a woman entered the cafeteria, looking mildly distressed, but her mannerisms led K to believe his assistance might not be appreciated so he kept quiet and maintained his distance, but was ready to help out if needed.

However, as the lady was cleaning herself up her behaviours made Kieron slightly uncomfortable. She seemed to keep glancing at him like he was some sort of weirdo, and more than once he glanced back over his shoulder to see if there was something behind him that she could be looking at with such unease. Hazel eyes looked up just in time to see the ball of tissues hurtling towards him, and Kieron tried to catch it but it broke up on impact and scattered like a dirt-stained snowball.

Utterly at a loss as to why anyone would throw tissues at someone like that, Kieron slid his sunglasses back up his nose and started to pick up the dispersed tissues. He addressed the woman, his tone confused but also with a strong hint of amusement. “Were you wanting to start a very unconventional food fight, miss? I don't mind taking these napkins to the bin for you, but would it not have just been simpler to ask?” A soft laugh left his lips, the Irishman dropping the tissues onto his tray. He'd just about finished anyway. “If that stain is being stubborn I have plenty of rubbing alcohol in the first aid kits. That tends to help budge the worst of it.”

[Deleted]

Seriously, Mae?! Seriously? A mental curse broke free as soon as the man lifted his hand in an attempt to snatch the ball of tissues. No blindness there. In turn she felt herself grow tense for the situation gained an even more awkward vibe than there had been before. Features portrayed shame and discomfort, even when Kieron spoke up with a hint of amusement to his voice. With lips parting, Maebelle did seem to have the intention of saying something in return, but no sound came out. Instead her mouth closed again and she probably came across as a prey that was looking for a way out as eyes drifted over to the door through which she had entered. God, it looked so far far far away.

Still, an attempt was made to reach it… without a word spoken. As her hand settled on the handle, however, Mae stood still and seemed hesitant about stepping outside. Why was she even doing this? The man did not come across as offended and he actually was nice enough to offer his assistance after she had thrown something his way. A reluctant glance got cast over her shoulder, a small sigh escaped and the brunette dropped the hand by her side again. It took another second or three before she spun in his direction again with arms folding against her chest, almost in a protective manner.

”I’m… sorry,” while a couple of steps were taken back to her previous location at which she had been wiping at both knees. And then further to Kieron because it only made sense that she would throw away the tissues, even though he seemed to be done eating. Mae slowly plucked them from the tray while standing next to the table, still not feeling at ease. All she saw while looking at him was her own reflection. She couldn’t tell what the man was looking at. ”I… kind of thought that you were blind.” Of course that sounded horrible. It made her throwing something come across as even worse!

Maebelle actually gave a little cringe at that and then a little look of defeat because this situation felt like it was doomed to fail. With all the tissues gathered, hands nervously fumbled them into the small ball again. ”But clearly you weren’t. And that just made me sound heartless…” A little tense chuckle was given and the girl shifted weight onto her other leg. Perhaps this was the best timing to leave, yet she felt nailed down to the floor.

As for the stains on her knees… his suggestion was still spinning through her mind. It kind of felt weird and random to bring it up again, yet tempting at the same time. ”You would help someone out who just threw a ball of tissues at you?” Just had to make sure before accepting… because she had made enough of a fool out of herself already.

[Kieron Sharpe]

The woman’s slightly strange behaviour took a turn for the bizarre, and as she turned and headed silently for the door Kieron was left sat there wondering what the hell he had done to upset her so much. He couldn’t recall ever meeting her before and even if he had, what in the heck had happened to cause her to be so antagonistic towards him? He was completely at a loss and didn’t have a single solitary clue how to handle this unusual situation.

It did briefly occur to him that maybe the lady was a slightly older student and was just being defiant and lashing out at a kind-of authority figure – in an admittedly rather weak way, but still. Did that mean he was supposed to reprimand her? Kieron had never reprimanded anyone in his life. He wouldn’t even know where to start! If he yelled at her it would come out as something akin to a confused squeak, and if she just ignored him and carried on walking he wouldn’t have a clue how to actually stop her.

Thankfully the lady stopped herself at the doorway, saving him the awkward embarrassment of trying (and probably failing) to stop her, and as she turned to face him the amusement that had been on his lips and in his tone had been replaced by utter confusion. “Uhh… Apology accepted, I think.” It felt exceedingly uncomfortable to just sit there as the woman gathered up the tissues, so K helped bunch them up and handed them over to her.

Her explanation caused a quiet laugh to leave Kieron’s lips, more out of relief than actual amusement. Whilst her methods of sating her curiosity were certainly unconventional (and borderline cruel), it was a little relief to find out that she wasn’t furious with him for something he couldn’t remember doing. “It would certainly have been simpler to just ask.” K adjusted the dark shades perched on the bridge of his nose. “Without these I am blind, sort of. I don’t see very well in bright light, without them I wouldn’t have been able to see you balling the tissues up. Not that I was watching you. I mean, I wasn’t looking at you. Well, I was watching to see if you need assistance, but I wasn’t actually watch—“
Stop.
Breathe.
Try again.
“Hello, is what I was trying to say. I’m Kieron, a nurse at Hammel. And I will be very happy to help you, certainly. Tissues being hurled at me I can live with. If it had been a brick I might be more hesitant.”

[Deleted]

A little nervous chuckle followed after Kieron’s quiet laugh. It did sooth her worries some, but it still did not take away the regrets of having thrown the ball of tissues at him. What had she even been thinking? Yes, it would indeed have been simpler to ask… if such actions were part of her personality. Mae simple nodded with an apologetic look on her face as a hand awkwardly rubbed her upper arm. That expression soon shifted into a more curious and interested one though, inspecting the dark shades on his nose. In turn it made her wonder just what he was looking at, especially when the man began to nervously ramble on about that. She could not suppress the little amused smile that graced her lips. For some reason the young woman labeled that as cute. Head ever so slightly dipped to the side, observing his features while he stumbled over those words. Could he tell that it was unintentionally breaking the ice? Both being so dysfunctional actually seemed to help her be somewhat more social.

An empathic smile was given, almost as if to encourage him to decently finish the sentence. Instead, however, Kieron introduced himself and another joke was thrown in. Maebelle gave a little laugh before less reluctantly reaching out the hand that was not holding on to the bits of tissues. “Maebelle, gardener at Hammel.” It didn’t surprise her that they had not met before. She had not been around that long and she didn’t enter the building that often.

“I am sorry… for having thrown it at you.” The brunette genuinely sounded concerned about that action. “It’s kind of easier for me to make a fool out of myself than to simply open my mouth and ask.” With a lighthearted chuckle, she tucked a strand behind her ear. And then eyes travelled to the stains on the knees of her pants. Fingers reached down to wipe at it again, assuming Kieron would lead the way to the solution for that problem once he was ready to leave the dining area.

“So, um, what’s wrong with your eyes?” Mae had never been good at being subtle about it. She just blurted it out… and ended up regretting it afterwards.

[Kieron Sharpe]

Kieron often liked to think he was the dashing hero from a storybook, bold and courageous with exceptional mannerisms and charm enough to spare. He had the mannerisms down to a tee, and he supposed he could be charming in his own strange way, but that was mostly where it fell apart. When defending someone or standing up for what he believed was right Kieron had a bravery that surprised even himself, but in situations like this it all fell apart like a muddy ball of tissues flying across a dining hall. He knew what he had been trying to say, but it had came out potentially creepy sounding and the minor panic had caused a string of verbal backspacing leading to the inevitable internal facepalm.

Prince Charming would be so jealous.

A light blush coloured Kieron's cheeks, but a smile appeared on the Irishman's lips as he saw one grace the face of the gardener and he noted that she didn't seem to be upset or offended by his awkward rambling. That was a relief, and he smiled as he shook the proffered hand with a light, gentle grip. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Maebelle. I'm surprised we haven't seen one another around the campus before.” In actuality Kieron wasn't surprised at all, he tended to avoid going outside during the day if he could help it so it was no wonder he'd never encountered the gardener before. Though he was certain he'd have remembered her face and those vivid blue eyes if he had.

A soft chortle left Kieron's lips at Mae's explanation and he gave a small nod of his head. “It seems we both have a talent for awkward interactions. Please don't worry about it. There was no harm done.” As Maebelle started dusting at her knees again K gathered up his things and made to stand, and he was halfway up when her question caused him to pause and blink at her for a moment.

“Uhh... There's nothing wrong with my eyes as such. They're just kind of... backwards to most other people, and very light sensitive.” Kieron finished standing, gathering everything up onto the tray ready to be discarded. “Have you ever been in a dark room, then suddenly turned a light on and felt like it was blinding you? That's how I am in light all the time. If I took these shades off I'd be in blinding brightness, as it were. The darker it is, the better I can see.” He gave a small shrug of his shoulders, picking up the tray and heading to dispose of it. Once that was done, he turned back to Mae with a small smile. “The first aid kits are in the medical bay, just across the way. The rubbing alcohol should help shift the worst of the mess.”

[Deleted]

Maebelle would claim to be happy that they had never met around campus before, but technically it did not make too much of a difference compared to the current situation. She was still wearing a dungaree which totally was not flattering at all and it wasn’t as if joining the camping trip had made her any more social. When Kieron rose, the young woman straightened up and awkwardly took a little step back to give him some space.

Honestly, it did sound as if something was wrong with his eyes, even when he tried explain it to her. The example of being in a dark room, Mae arched an eyebrow, slightly shaking her head. “Not exactly… I’m not that fond of the dark.” Because flowers and plants would go to sleep then, and she would feel like the loneliest person in the entire world. It kind of did feel rude to make that statement though, especially since Kieron had just confessed his disability concerning the light. Actually, she just should have nodded because surely everyone had gone through that experience at one point. Mae wasn’t being that thoughtful at that moment.

“Those glasses are kind of creepy…” As soon as those words were spoken out loud, Mae seemed to acknowledge just how inappropriate that statement had been. “Well… I mean, you know… when you don’t know what’s wrong with your eyes. Not that there is anything wrong with them. I mean… they’re just different and-“ The brunette contracted lips together, shutting herself up as her hand awkwardly rubbed her upper arm again. She could have reasoned that they hid half his face and that is was difficult for her to form a complete image of the person behind them, but it wasn’t as if she really had the intention to get close to him.

“Rubbing alcohol… yes.” Maebelle sounded relieved at the change of topic, immediately starting to walk and out of the dining hall. After that she let Kieron lead the way, which made her feel weird to let someone else have control over the situation. “Why don’t you have a job with a night shift?” She wasn’t nosy or anything… And definitely so good at letting go of the awkward conversations! Not.

[Kieron Sharpe]

As he stood and the woman back-stepped a little to make plenty of room for him to get out, Kieron smiled softly and gave a little half-bow of his head. “Thank you so much.” This whole situation was strange and awkward beyond words, and yet he did not feel quite as uncomfortable as he thought he should. Perhaps it was helped by the sheer ridiculousness of it and the fact that so little of it seemed to make any sense to him. As unusual and perplexing as this was, it was equally intriguing and such a refreshing change from the usual stale work-colleague introductions.

Mae's admittance to not being fond of the dark caused the nurse to give a small shrug, K dropping off the rubbish and the tray before returning to her. “That is understandable, I was never very fond of it when I was younger either. It always seemed so cold and uninviting. Now, however, I can see the beauty of the world at night. Everything is far more subtle and delicate by moonlight.” He quieted himself before he could waffle any more, fighting the urge to wax lyrical about the grace of the world at night. Like a black and white photograph, everything always seemed so much more elegant without the vividness of the day getting in the way.

Mae's next words caused Kieron to give a quiet bark of a laugh, but he sympathetically quieted quickly when she fell into a similar word-jumble pit to the one he had fallen into only moments ago. “You're not the first to say that, but the first to phrase it quite so bluntly.” His shoulders gave a soft shrug and K closed his eyes before sliding the shades up onto his hair. Even through his closed lids he winced at the invading light, but hopefully it would make her feel a little more at ease to see there was a normal human face behind the tinted visors. “See? Still human.” The slightly amused note had returned to his voice, and after a moment he slid the shades back down so he could actually see where he was going as he led the way over to the little medical unit.

“Umm...” The gardener's question caused Kieron to pause, but after a moment he gave another small shrug and unlocked one of the boxes of first aid supplies in the unit, rummaging around for one of the bottles of rubbing alcohol. “I like people too much. A night shift would be too quiet and still wouldn't take away the fact that even lightbulbs are painful.” He didn't mention that he'd applied for many other jobs before the one at Hammel had popped up, and by that point he'd have taken absolutely any job offered to him. He gave a triumphant 'ah ha' as he snagged one of the bottles, pulling it out and holding it out for Mae along with a big wad of cotton wool. “That should help.”

[Deleted]

A darker shade of pink settled on both her cheeks when Kieron labeled her remark as blunt. Maebelle did want to apologize… and even more so when he deemed it necessary to slide the glasses up onto his hair. Normal human face? The way his features were scrunched up, she got hit by guilt and pity, about to reach out and to put those glasses back onto the bridge of his nose if it weren’t for him doing that first. Her own face was slightly retorted in a little wince, almost as if she could mentally imagine the discomfort this caused for him. “That did look painful though,” the young woman once more blurted out the opinion that lingered on the tip of her tongue.

Once inside the unit, Mae stood back while Kieron searched for the rubbing alcohol. “That doesn’t make sense. Lightbulbs would still hurt less than daylight in general, right? And what’s so fun about complaining people?” With low pain tolerance and whatnot. Then again, who was the gardener to judge? If he liked his job, so be it. It wasn’t as if she was the one who had to fulfill the requirements that came with being a nurse. “And that was me being blunt again, huh?” A little nervous chuckle could be heard as she reached out for the rubbing alcohol. When her other hand went for the wad of cotton wool, fingertips unintentionally brushing against his. She kind of ignored that because not acknowledging it would avoid a possible awkward situation.

The brunette sat down on a nearby chair before turning the lid off the bottle and then held some cotton wool against it as she held it upside down for a couple of seconds. Then she dipped it on the stain on her dungarees. “I will probably have emptied this entire bottle by the end of camp…” It was pretty much a mumble at herself, able to predict that the students would not give her an easy time when it came to caring for the plants over them. Blue eyes drifted over again. “So, um, could you qualify for a guidance dog?”

[Kieron Sharpe]

As the woman’s cheeks flushed Kieron felt heat seeping into his own, though not quite as brightly. It was a nonsensical reaction and he knew it, but he had always been that way. He often found himself feeling embarrassed for other people, internally cringing with them and getting awkward right alongside them. It was a major reason why he had such a huge dislike of hidden camera type TV shows. It was incredibly difficult to find it amusing when he was being mortified right alongside the person on the screen. “It is very uncomfortable, yes. As I said, the darker it is the better I can see. But at least now you know I’m not a Cyclops or something.” It was lame and he knew it, but a quiet uncomfortable laugh still left his lips.

“That’s right. Daylight does hurt more, but that’s the relief of being a school nurse. I’m inside most of the day, shielded away from the evil day-moon.” To the second part of her question Kieron just gave a small smile, handing over the rubbing alcohol and cotton. “Complaining people I don’t mind, even when it’s just kids faking a stomach ache to try to get out of gym.” His shoulders shrugged. “If I got a night shift as a nurse somewhere I’d end up spending most of my time patching up drunks, which is a lot worse than sulky teenagers.” The brush of fingertips caused a little shiver to travel down the nurse’s spine, and his cheeks darkened ever so slightly as he semi-stammered out “I... uh… I don’t mind blunt. At least it’s honest.”

Idly watching the woman cleaning off her dungarees, Kieron gestured towards the bottle when she commented about using it all. “Please feel free to claim that one, there’s plenty more here. I can easily write off one bottle.” Her next question caused a chuckle to sound into the air and Kieron shook his head. “No, not at all. I’m not actually blind, I can see just fine as long as my eyes are shaded. Besides, I think I’ve got enough pets as it is.”

[Deleted]

A genuine laugh had slipped past Maebelle’s lips after his Cyclops comment. “Being a Cyclops would have been less painful for you though.” Only one eye that could suffer from bright lights. Now that was one aspect that could have made this situation even more awkward. While continuously dipping the cotton wool on the fabric, she every now and then gave a little nod to indicate that she was paying attention. “I guess working throughout the day does make the sunglasses look less weird.” Lips slightly pursed again after that, mainly because she was mentally cursing at herself and didn’t want one to come out loud. She also wanted to give a bitter chuckle when he compared being blunt to being honest… Mae was prone to lying. If only he knew.

Instead, however, a small sheepish smile curled her lips, but perhaps he would not take notice since blue eyes lingered on her hand working on the stain. At least one of them had been good at not making another fool out of themselves. Or at least that was what Mae thought before reaching over for the bottle again. “No, it’s okay. You don’t have to gi-“ With her gaze not focused enough, the back of her fingers accidentally hit the rubbing alcohol and soon it was running down the table like a small waterfall. “Oh no!” Mae blurted out, along with some cursing as she shot up and managed to save some upon putting the bottle upright again.

“I am so so so sorry!” Maebelle almost whimpered, overwhelmed by embarrassment, while trying to soak as much as possible by using the cotton wool that had not been used yet. Cheeks were heating up again, but not for a positive reason. She actually almost hit the bottle again and that made her drop the soaked balls of cotton wool, making her stumble back with hands kind of raised in defeat. To avoid herself from touching anything and doing something wrong again. In the process, however, not having any eyes on her back, she bumped into Kieron… which got her to quickly spin around again, hitting the boxes of first aid supplies. Based on her facial expression, the young woman was on the verge of just feeling the situation.

“Sorry…” Nothing more than a whimper.

[Kieron Sharpe]

K’s smile was an easy one, and he gave a small shrug. “Perhaps it would have been easier to only have one eye. Though that would make it a touch more difficult to find suitable shades.” Trying to find a pair of sunglasses that stayed on as he was bustling about, gave his eyes adequate shielding, didn’t rub his nose or ears too badly and still managed to look semi-reasonable was a constant struggle for the nurse, though he knew he was rather lucky in some regards. Over the years he’d seen the after-effects that came along with some powers, and he was glad that at least his own could be fairly easily mediated and didn’t cause any real damage to himself or anyone around him.

Unless he accidentally smacked someone with a wing, of course. Those things had left nasty bruises on people in the past. Plus there was always the threat of early onset osteoporosis hanging over him, but he was doing his best to keep that at bay.

As Kieron was tidying away the medical supplies again the soft thud of the bottle falling over caused him to turn, and he worked quickly to try to help mop up the spilled alcohol. Maebelle seemed to have it mostly covered though so K resumed tidying away the opened boxes, but his voice was soft and kind. “Really, it’s okay. These things happen. Don’t worry about i-” The bump into his back caused Kieron to startle slightly and he felt the skin across his shoulders tighten and tense, but thankfully it wasn’t enough to trigger his wings to sprout. Quickly finishing off tidying away the boxes, Kieron turned to Mae with a hopefully reassuring smile and he gestured towards a nearby stool. “It’s fine, really. Please sit and calm down a little; there’s really nothing to apologise for.”

[Deleted]

Maebelle felt horrible. And when Kieron gestured to the nearby chair, blue eyes fell and she slowly shuffled towards it. He probably did not mean it like that, but it did give her the feeling she would only stop being a burden if she were to sit down and not be able to do something wrong anymore. The only solution to keep her from doing something stupid. “Sorry,” the young woman mumbled again while holding the soaked cotton in her hands. She squeezed it above the stains on her knees, letting it soak to make sure her mess at least had some purpose. Plus, it gave her an excuse to not look up at him for the moment being. God knows what impression this might have given… and she only cared about that right now because Kieron had yet to judge her for her actions and words.

“I guess I emptied that bottle quicker than expected, huh?” Mae chuckled sheepishly as eyes drifted up to the man through eyelashes. “Could I… have more cotton?” She showed him the plump pile in her palm. Cheeks were still giving away a darker color. The soaked ones got placed down on the corner of the table as the man grabbed some new ones. “I’m probably even worse than the students.” Fingertips scratched at some dirt that had not been removed yet before blue optics fully met his again. Kieron probably had better things to do as well.

Slowly Mae rose from the seat again. “I probably should get going.” Stop being trouble. The thing was, she also felt incredibly guilty. She hadn’t done anything positive since their encounter. And maybe she should make it up to him. It might be incredibly ridiculous to ask it out of nowhere and especially since it would not make any sense to him. “This might sound weird… but do you like flowers?”

[Kieron Sharpe]

Kieron was glad when Mae sat down, though not quite for the reasons she suspected. Yes getting her to sit down would effectively limit the amount of extra chaos she could accidentally cause, but at the same time it would hopefully also get her to stop flapping about the mess she had made and actually calm down. Movement tended to exacerbate nervous energy; a child flailing around the room because of a cut finger would often become much more sedate once you'd managed to get it to sit down and breathe. “There's no need to keep apologising, no harm's been done. If I thought any of this had been done maliciously then I'd be expecting a sorry.” He truly did believe that she had done nothing wrong; sure her gut reaction to find out whether he was blind or not had been rather crude, but beyond that it had just been... unlucky circumstances.

Fishing out some extra cotton to replace the soiled bunch, Kieron gave a soft chuckle. “You're not faking a stomach ache to try to get out of gym or crying over a papercut. Honestly, you're fine.” The scent of the rubbing alcohol permeated the air and after K handed over the extra cotton and finished putting away the boxes he got to work cleaning up the mess as best he could. Well, he tended to get bored on breaks anyway when he didn't have a book with him. This had at least been an interesting encounter, even if it did result in tidying up.

Kieron gathered up the spoiled cotton and disposed of it, and when he noticed that Mae was standing again he offered out his hand to help her up. A look of slight confusion crossed his features at her question, and he stumbled on his words for a moment. “Umm... I guess so? I don't mind them, I mean. Some can be rather beautiful. I prefer them growing naturally to being in vases, though.” He had never been able to understand the appeal of taking something growing and vibrant and beautiful and cutting it, sticking it in a glass and spending the next few days watching it slowly die.

[Deleted]

Maebelle definitely had not done any of this on purpose – except for throwing a ball of tissues at him. Still though, the urge to apologize was too strong and she could not help but blurt it out a couple of times. Despite Kieron’s attempts to soothe her heightened nervous behavior, it was not exactly making too much of a difference. Not until he offered his hand and for a second she eyed it suspiciously. After a couple of counts staring at it, a small hand landed in his and she rose to her feet. Then she slowly withdrew it, curling it up in a ball by her side, almost as if to cherish the warmth.

“I… have to make this up to you. I mean… you know… no, I want to make this up to you.” She shouldn’t make it sound like an obligation, hence the reason she changed the emphasis and used a different word. Once more, Mae could not explain why. Something about his personality gave her this feeling… and by making it up to him, perhaps a friendship could form. The gardener hardly ever considered that, especially this quickly, but this just felt… right. Kieron was different, one way or another. Or, well, maybe not different at all. He was just as socially awkward and stumbling over words like she was. “Please? I know I don’t have to, but…” A hopeful look settled in blue eyes as they landed on him.

When someone knocked on the door and peeked his head inside, Mae found herself startled for she had been focused on Kieron. Apparently she was needed outside and with that message transferred, the other person disappeared again. “I… really should get going now. If you… well, let me make it up to you…” In the meanwhile she was almost out of the door, feeling extremely awkward about this. “10PM, here? Okay, bye.” With that, Maebelle was quick to step away. She hadn’t even given him a chance to react… but there was only one way to find out if he gave her that chance, right?

Ooc:: You’re free to skip to 10PM if you’re up for that. <3